Fifth Time the Charm

Oden's career has been anything, but what
the Trail Blazers were hoping for.

It's been nearly five years since the Portland Trail Blazers drafted Greg Oden with the No. 1 overall pick, taking him over Texas' Kevin Durant.

Since that time, Oden has undergone more knee surgeries than he has seasons played, Durant has made the Oklahoma City Thunder a title contender, winning two NBA scoring titles in the process and Oden's once upon a time running mate, Brandon Roy, has retired due to his balky knees.

Oden underwent his fifth career knee surgery Monday and the third of the microfracture variety. Originally suffering the injury in his right knee, Oden's last two procedures have come on his left.

It's worth noting no player in NBA history has come back after undergoing three different microfracture procedures.

The 7-footer has played a total of 82 games in his five-year career. That is equivalent to an entire NBA regular season. In his rookie campaign out of Ohio State, Oden played in a career-high 61 games, 39 of them came as a starter, averaging 8.9 points per game and 7.0 rebounds.

Following his first surgery, Oden came back with vengeance, starting in the team's first 21 games of the regular season. He was averaging 11.1 PPG, 8.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks, making it clear he wasn't going to be the franchise's next Sam Bowie.

However, he was.

On Dec. 5, 2009, in a game against the Houston Rockets, Oden went up to block an Aaron Brooks' shot attempt, but instead came down on an another injured knee.

Oden suffered a fracture left patella and would miss the reminder of the season, playing in what might be his final as a Blazer.

Just like Oden, Bowie was taken ahead of another high profile superstar and a superstar in every sense of the word. The often-injured center was selected by Portland with the No. 2 overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft, in front of North Carolina's Michael Jordan.

Need I say more?

As for Bowie, he played in 76 games in his rookie season, but only 63 games over the next four years with the Blazers before signing with the New Jersey Nets, spending only five years with the organization and the same number of operations.

Oddly enough, Oden can say the same thing.

Portland should
have listened.

Heading into the season and after the 166-day lockout Oden was a restricted free agent, but agreed to a $8.9 million qualifying offer to stay with Portland. The team has since restructured the deal with Oden, having him earn $1.5 million after he will not have played a game in any of the last three seasons.

A team that was once thought to be possessed by a formula for success, now becomes a team without two main indigents. And with Oden an unrestricted free agent at season's end, his return to the Rose Garden or any NBA arena for that matter, isn't any time soon.

Just remember, history tends to repeat itself.

Surgery for Gronk

Pollard is notorious for injuring Patriot
players, doing the same to Gronkowski.

Rob Gronkowski's ankle may have it's own Twitter account (@GronksAnkle) with 349 followers, but it had much more important things to worry about on Friday.

The New England Patriot tight end underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his injured left ankle and is expected to make a full recovery within 10 weeks. Despite Gronkowski saying he was "100 percent" following this team's Super Bowl XLVI lost to the New York Giants, it was clear that was not the case.

Gronkowski only caught two passes from quarterback Tom Brady for 26 yards. But it was the play that the second-year tight end couldn't make that really swung the momentum on Super Sunday.

Clinging to a 17-14 lead in the fourth quarter, New England was in the middle of a four-play, 23-yard drive before, on the fifth play of the drive, Brady pulled a Houdini-like escape from the vaunted New York pass rush and heaved the ball down the field to Gronkowski.

The pass was under thrown and intercepted by linebacker Chase Blackburn. Gronkowski did is best to make a play on the ball -- a play he normally makes if healthy. It was the only turnover of the game.

Gronkowski, along with teammate Matt Light, were under heavy scrutiny earlier in the week after a video was released of the two partying and dancing after the loss. And while Gronkowski looked limited on the gridiron just hours earlier, it didn't seem that way on the dance floor.

All in all, it was a great season for the Patriots and Gronkowski.

The 22-year-old emerged as the most dominate tight end the NFL this season, setting records in the process. Gronkowski finished the regular season with 17 receiving touchdowns and 1,327 yards -- both single-season records for a tight end.

'Gronk', as his teammates call him, added three more touchdowns to his total in the postseason before suffering his high-ankle sprain in the AFC Championship Game against the Baltimore Ravens, beginning the talk of the most famous ankle in sports history.

Oddly enough Gronkowski injured his ankle on a tackle by safety Bernard Pollard. It's not the first time Pollard has injured a significant member of the New England franchise. In Week 1 of the 2008-09 season, Pollard, then a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, was responsible for the low hit on Brady's left leg that torn his ACL and had him miss the entire season.

The following year, in Week 17 against the Houston Texans, with a healthy Brady and the Patriots primed for another deep playoff, wideout Wes Welker caught a first quarter pass and ran for 13 yards before trying to make a move on Pollard, to avoid a tackle. In the process, Welker also torn his ACL and was lost for the rest of the season.

Not any one player can win a team a Super Bowl, but Brady, Welker and Gronkowski were all key components to making their respective teams go, leaving the Patriots to wonder, what could have been.

Pollard is a free agent after the 2012-13 season -- a free agent the Patriots should look into, living by the old cliche, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.